The present disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatus, and methods for measuring a quantity of a liquid and/or a temperature of the liquid disposed in a delivery device, and in particular to an injection pen cap that includes a temperature sensor.
Many chronic disease patients are prescribed medications that need to be self-administered, administered by a caregiver, or administered by an automated or semi-automated delivery system using injection pens or similar drug delivery devices. For example, patients diagnosed with Type I or II diabetes must regularly check their blood glucose levels and administer an appropriate dose of insulin using an injection pen. In order to monitor the efficacy of the medication, dose information must be recorded. The process of manually logging dose information, particularly in an uncontrolled setting, is tedious and error prone. Patients often forget to log the dose information when administering medicine. In addition, many such patients may be minors or elderly who cannot efficiently and/or accurately track the dose information.
Incomplete dosage records hinder the ability of a patient to self-manage disease conditions and prevent caregivers from adjusting care plans based on behavioral insights. Lack of adherence to target dosage schedules for injectable medicines may result in an increased need for critical care, which results in a significant increase in health care costs in countries around the world.
Thus, a need exists for improved technological aids, in particular, new delivery devices, to better assist both patients in improving their ability to self-manage disease treatment using drug delivery devices and caregivers in monitoring patient health. In particular, there is a need for systems, apparatus, and methods that facilitate data acquisition on patient behavior and allow that data to be used to reduce the incidence of hospital visits (e.g., re-admission), as well as to inform and educate patients, care providers, family members, and financial service providers.